Tigers down Seahawks for share of title

Blountstown backed up their defense with offensive muscle Friday night, defeating Franklin County 47-8 to put themselves in the catbird seat in the race for the District 4-1A title.

The Tiger trio of sophomore Javakiel Brigham, senior Marquel Thomas, and senior Jawon Mosley led a ground attack that tallied 233 yards on 34 carries, as the defense shut out the Seahawks for the first three quarters.

“We wanted to come down here and be able to run the football,” said Tigers coach Greg Jordan. “Defensively we’ve been playing well. We needed to have some positive things happen.”

Happen they did, beginning with a 14-yard toss from sophomore quarterback Hunter Jordan to Mosley with 5:44 left in the first quarter. Jordan finished a perfect 5-for-five from the air, for 108 yards.

On the opening drive, on successive fourth downs, Franklin County coach Josh Wright went for the first downs and got them. But for most of the game, the team had a hard time mustering a sustained offense.

The Blountstown offense exploded in the second quarter with four more scores, a 7-yard run by Thomas, a 4-yard burst by Mosley, who also caught a 14-yard scoring toss from Jordan, and a 31-yard scamper by Brigham with 27 seconds left before halftime, giving the Tigers a commanding 33-0 lead going into the locker room.

Blountstown got the running clock started less than 30 seconds into the second half, when Mosley ran the opening kickoff back to the Seahawks 15-yard line, and then ran it in a play later. He finished with 46 yards, Brigham 66 yards and Thomas 53 yards.

The Seahawks got on the board with 9:38 left in the game, when junior quarterback TreSean Carr threw an 11-yard score to junior Ladarious Rhodes. Sophomore kicker Elton Olvera hit sophomore Holden Foley for the two-point conversion.

With 28 seconds in the game, the Tigers wrapped up their scoring when freshman quarterback Dillon Lee threw a 17-yard strike to senior wide receiver Chris Davis.

The Tiger defense held the Seahawks to just 42 yards on the ground, on 24 carries, and 52 yards in the air. Senior quarterback Zach Armistead was 2-for-8 for 29 yards and one interception, while junior quarterback TreSean Carr went 2-for-2 for 21 yards.

On the ground, junior running back Cole Lee led the team with 21 yards on six carries, with sophomore Dwayne Griggs and junior Skyler Hutchinson each gaining only nine yards, on six and four carries respectively. Senior Brennan Walden added three yards, on eight carries.

Defensively, the team was led by Walden, with eight solo tackles, and senior Marcus Dalton, sophomore Leonard Green and Carr each with four.

The Seahawks fell to 3-6, 0-4 in district play, and have a bye this Friday.

Highlighting the evening were halftime’s homecoming events, which featured freshman attendants Mackenzie Register, accompanied by Chandler White; sophomore attendants Haleigh Ming and Alex Causey, and Deborah Dempsey and Dwayne Griggs; and junior attendants Emily Cash and Chase Golden, Shelby Myer and Skyler Hutchinson, and Chena Segree and Cole Lee.

Radiant as the homecoming court, which this year featured both a king and queen, were senior attendants Kayle Martina and Zach Armistead, Emerald Norris and Steven Jackson, Carli Klink and Tanner Klink, Megan Newell and Brennan Walden and Christina Pateritsas and Javieon Winfield.

As anticipation grew, Mr. FCHS Chance Buffkin and Miss FCHS Adreenah Wynn, as well as last year’s queen Abigail Wharrie, helped to crown the honorees, Norris as the queen and Winfield the king.

Float winner from the afternoon parade was the sophomores, class of 2014, with first runner up the juniors, class of 2013. Serving as parade marshal was Franklin County teacher Stephanie Howze, who is back teaching after intensive therapy for cancer. The fight against cancer was the theme of the evening introduced by announcer Kenny Griswold before the coin toss.